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SCMP Reporter

The pro-Beijing forces in Kowloon City will find out in the district council elections on November 28 if their traditional influence has been dented by urban renewal.

 Kowloon City has been a stronghold for the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance, with more than half the incumbent district board members either from or with close ties to one of these groups.

 But the Democratic Party believes redevelopment in To Kwa Wan and Hunghom will help the Democrats.

 'Kowloon City has been altering. It is now time for the Democrats to infiltrate this pro-Beijing stronghold,' said Chan Ka-wai, who is co-ordinating the party's candidates as well as running for a seat in Whampoa East.

 Mr Chan, a first-time candidate, said most of the pro-Beijing camp's supporters had left Kowloon City. New private developments had brought in middle-class residents expected to favour the democratic camp, he said.

 'We have nothing to lose,' said Mr Chan, who was confident the Democrats would win at least 75 per cent of the vote.

 Of 44 hopefuls contesting 19 seats, eight are from the Democrats, four times the number fielded in 1994.

 But veteran district board member Wong Siu-yee, of the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance, described the Democrats' analysis as a 'dream'.

 'It is the biggest myth in the world to say that all middle-class people vote for the Democrats,' said Mr Wong, who is seeking another term in Sheung Lok.

 Mr Wong, who has served on the Kowloon City district board since 1985, did concede urban renewal had changed the voting make-up.

 'But that is not the end of the pro-Beijing forces. Voters will only vote for candidates who really serve the constituency,' said Mr Wong, competing against Democrat first-timer Tsoi Lai-ling.

 Starry Lee Wai-king, an FTU member running as an independent in To Kwa Wan North, does not feel that her district support has been weakened.

 'Current economic difficulties and unemployment will instead help unionists like me,' she said.

 DAB candidate Ip Che-kin, seeking re-election in Hunghom, also challenged the Democrats' strategy. 'They will have an answer on November 28 whether their theory really works,' he said.



Urban renewal influences contest